James W. Harff
President and CEO

Jim Harff is a co-founder of Global Communicators and Chairman of its parent company, Harff Communications Incorporated. Previously, as President of the Global Public Affairs division of Ruder Finn for eight years, Mr. Harff directed a team of international public relations and communications professionals from headquarters in Washington, D.C. Mr. Harff's professional work has specialized in government relations, lobbying, public policy issues management, foreign government representation, international economic development, media relations, crisis communications, and travel and tourism promotion. For eight years he was a Chief of Staff to three Members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Katherine M. Christie
President-Emeritus

A former journalist and long-time public relations professional, President Katherine Christie has had an extensive career in fields ranging from politics and private industry to federal government service. As senior press officer at the National Endowment for the Arts, Ms. Christie was responsible for publicizing programs and projects to make the best of the American arts available to the widest audience. As a Washington-based news reporter and columnist, Ms. Christie covered the White House, Congress and government agencies. A co-founder of Global Communicators, Ms. Christie was a Vice President of Edelman Worldwide.

Kristine E. Heine
Executive Vice President

Executive Vice President Kristine Heine has more than 25 years of experience in the communications profession, working with U.S. and international businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government entities. Ms. Heine began her career as a television and radio reporter, producer, and anchor in her native Iowa before coming to Washington, D.C., as a Press Secretary to a U.S. Representative. As Director of Public Liaison for the U.S. Agency for International Development, Ms. Heine developed and managed programs to educate the public about U.S. foreign and humanitarian assistance. She has been Vice President of Grey and Company public relations, and Senior Vice President of Edelman Worldwide.

Mark A. Groombridge, Ph.D.
Vice President and Senior Research Analyst

Before collaborating with Global Communicators, Mr. Groombridge served in a number of key positions in the U.S. Government providing strategic advice advancing U.S. interests on a number of critical issues. Most recently, he served as Senior Advisor for Policy Planning at the Department of Commerce where he oversaw and developed strategies to promote America’s technological leadership and international trade. Prior to this, he worked at the U.S. State Department both in Washington and New York. In Washington, he served as the principal advisor on Asian Affairs to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. In New York, he served as Counselor and Chief of Staff to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. In this latter capacity, he had the opportunity to serve as the lead negotiator for the U.S. on UN budgetary matters, as well as spearhead negotiations on several critical Security Council resolutions. Before joining government, Mr. Groombridge worked at several prominent research institutes, including the Cato and the American Enterprise Institute. He has been a frequent commentator on television and has spoken at conferences across the globe. His publication record includes over 30 articles and a book on Chinese trade policy. He has taught at Columbia, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Ivan Butina
Senior Account Executive

With an academic background in international relations, Ivan Butina, heads Global Communicators’ European practice area. Mr. Butina obtained a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he specialized in International Economics and European Studies. Mr. Butina interned with the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), where he strengthened his knowledge of EU-US economic relations and the functioning of U.S. government and government-business relations. Previously, he worked for the European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he developed a youth communications strategy to actively involve young people in their country’s EU integration process. Mr. Butina was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was raised in Bologna, Italy. He is fluent in English, Italian and Bosnian / Croatian / Montenegrin / Serbian, and he speaks French and German.

Adriana Gallegos
Social Media Marketing Strategist

Adriana Gallegos works with Global Communicators as a bilingual Public Relations Strategist with public and private sector as well as international experience. She has an in-depth understanding of traditional and new media and has worked on both sides of the camera as a television reporter and a PR professional. Adriana has over six years of experience working in communications and public relations.. She started as a television reporter for the NBC affiliate in Laredo, Texas, after which she became press secretary to Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) in Washington, DC. She framed the congressman’s press strategy and spearheaded his outreach to Latino constituents as the spokesperson for all Spanish media. Her passion for communication led her to work for a several public relations firms where she used her media relations expertise and strategic communication planning skills to create a variety of successful campaigns. She worked on a public awareness campaign to promote the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Act, which required all U.S. citizens to have a passport when traveling to Mexico and Canada. While working in Spain she promoted the island of Madeira to the Spanish traveler. She also worked on integrating the company hotels.com in the Spanish market. Adriana was born in New Mexico and is fluent in Spanish.

Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Global Communicator's Italian Contact Point

Lorenzo Montanari heads up Global Communicators Italian Contact Point, a unique practice area that focuses on Italian business and government advice and counsel. He has extensive background in international relations, strategic communication and international business strategy focused on U.S, European and Latin American markets. Since 2009, Mr. Montanari has worked in Washington, DC as a political consultant and researcher on communication and international lobbying at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) where he obtained a master’s degree in political management. He also has specialized in European public affairs at the American University in Washington, DC, where he received a Benefactor’s Award from the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. Mr. Montanari co-organized eight international workshops and seminars on government, political marketing, political and crisis communications for Latin American governments and Members of Congress. He managed media relations between GSPM and the Government of Guatemala. Additionally, he advocated, managed and coordinated the first international agreement between GSPM and IULM University in Milan. Previously, Mr. Montanari worked as a political analyst on foreign policy issues concerning Latin American and Middle East for L’Opinione, a national Italian newspaper. His articles have been published on Analitica, a Latin American online magazine, and Campaigns & Elections (Spanish Edition). Mr. Montanari worked as a consultant for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, for several non-governmental organizations, and as international election observer on behalf of European Union in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. He is a member of the Italian Association of Political Consultant and Public Affairs and member of the international editorial board of the Italian Review of Public Communication. He speaks Italian, English and Spanish. Recent Press >

Mabruk Kabir
Emerging Markets Analyst

Mabruk Kabir joined the Global Communicators team after obtaining his International Business degree from McGill University. Previously, Mr. Kabir had interned at the Nepali Embassy in Washington, where he had researched US Trade Policy with regards to South Asia and Africa. Passionate about development, he has also interned at the Society for International Development (SID-Washington), as well as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Helen Keller International in Nepal. With a strong interest in the dynamics of globalization and emerging economies, Mr. Kabir contributes knowledge and experience of developing areas to Global Communicators. Mr. Kabir is of Bangadeshi origin, but has lived in a number of cities, including Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kolkata, Delhi, Canberra, New York and Montreal.

Eugenia Sosa
Assistant Account Executive

Eugenia Sosa has provided writing and research assistance to a number of Global Communicators' clients, including the Embassy of Thailand, Thai Trade Center, Fellowes, and Kohler Co. She also has helped with outreach to traditional and social media for Thailand and for news dissemination for Grameen Bank Managing Director Muhammad Yunus.

Before joining Global Communicators, Ms. Sosa interned at various print and online publications, including Newsweek, Foreign Policy Magazine, and the online magazine Slate.com. She holds a bachelor's degree in Government and English from Georgetown University, where she focused her studies on journalism and communications. Ms. Sosa is originally from Venezuela, and speaks fluent English, Spanish, and French.